This "virtual newspaper for an aquatic world" contains musings, science, facts and opinions-both profound and mundane-about the River region, its people and natural resources, and their nexus to the Washington, DC scene.
Comments and other written contributions are always appreciated.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Mississippi River Basin Water Resource News of the Week

~Virtual Newspaper for an Aquatic World~

This Week and Next

House leaders spent much of the last week attempting to line up the 218 member votes needed to pass a comprehensive five-year farm bill, and believe that they are getting close to achieving that goal. Assuming the passage votes are queued up, House Agriculture Committee Chair Frank Lucas (R-OK-3) said on Thursday that he expects the chamber to take up the House version of the bill sometime next week (most likely beginning on Wednesday), and be completed in two days time. Lucas said that he thinks that the House will end up voting on a total of 30 to 40 amendments covering every title of the farm bill, with some of the major areas ripe for debate being food stamps (SNAP), sugar and dairy support, conservation and crop insurance. This Thursday's relatively contentious House Appropriations Committee markup and approval of the GOP fiscal year 2014 Agriculture appropriations bill, where nutrition cuts took center stage, gave a taste of what we can expect on the House floor when the farm bill comes up for consideration (see additional news articles about this under "Agriculture, below). The Senate passed its version of the farm bill on Monday (June 10) on a 66-27 roll call vote. For more on the farm bill, here is a link to more on the 2013 farm bill status in the Senate and House, and our routinely-updated farm bill resources page. You can also see more than a dozen other articles and editorial pieces relating to the legislation, below, under "Farm Bill."

Congress now ranks as least popular societal institution in U.S. history, according to a new Gallup poll http://ow.ly/m1SQZ

Last Words -

William Hodges - Jacques and the Wounded Stag 'As You Like It,' Act II, Scene I

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players," - the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's "As You Like It," spoken by the melancholy Jaques in Act II Scene VII.

"Last year the House leadership didn’t bring the [farm] bill up for a floor vote, so for supporters the prospect of a floor debate represents progress. Further progress will depend on whether the House is a legislative body or a stage." - the phrase that closes a Tuesday blog update written by the not-so-melancholy DTN Editor Emeritus Urban C. Lehner in Act I, Paragraph XI.